March 13, 2009

Friday The 13th, Again.

A month later, here we go again - yet another Friday the 13th.As I have already described superstition behind this date extensively in my February post, today I will pay more attention to the statistics.

This year, the year of 2009, we can experience the total of three Fridays with this magic number; there is one more in store for us comes November. This is the highest number of Fridays the 13th possible in a year. The lowest amount is one, just like it was last year, in 2008 (only one in June). There is always at least one Friday the 13th in any given year and no more than three.Next year, in 2010, again only one Friday the 13th will occur, and that will happen in August.The next time around we will get three lucky Fridays will be in 2012 and these will occur in January, April and July. The same sequence as this year (February, March, November) will happen in 2015.

There is a particular sequence of how Fridays the 13th are distributed and this sequence repeats every 28 years:

2001 April, July 2002 September, December 2003 June 2004 February, August 2005 May 2006 January, October 2007 April, July 2008 June 2009 February, March, November 2010 August2011 May 2012 January, April, July 2013 September, December 2014 June 2015 February, March, November 2016 May 2017 January, October 2018 April, July2019 September, December 2020 March, November 2021 August 2022 May 2023 January, October 2024 September, December 2025 June 2026 February, March, November 2027 August 2028 October

The longest period of time possible without a Friday the 13th is 14 months. Interestingly, statistically the date of the 13th occurs more often on a Friday than any other day of the week, tightly followed by a Sunday and a Wednesday (as a tie).

Famous people born on Friday the 13th:

Samuel Beckett (13th of April 1906)Margaret Thatcher (13th of October 1923)Fidel Castro (13th of August 1926) Steve Buscemi (13th December 1957)Julia Louis-Dreyfus (13th of January 1961)Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson (13th of June 1986)Marco Andretti (13th of March 1987)

The Uruguayan rugby team’s plane crashed in the Andes mountain range on Friday, 13 October, 1972.Last month, one of our students flew to London on Friday the 13th and there was a problem with the plane; after taxing away and preparing for the take off on the runway, the pilot announced that one of the engines would not start and the plane had to return to the gate. Yikes. The student told me he truly contemplated (for the first time ever in his life) to ask to be allowed to leave the plane. But eventually he found comfort in the notion that the pilots and the ground crew must know what they are doing. After 40 minutes the engine was repaired and they took off without problems.;)

19 comments:

Those sequencing facts about the 13th are very interesting. I had no idea.

My favorite Friday the 13th story is that my ex husband got remarried on a Friday the 13th...that has always tickled my sense of rightness. But his wife is really nice so I am sorry for her...it has always been obvious to me that the bad luck part of the day fell on her not him. Too bad.

Wow! So much to learn. Today is the birthday of THREE good friends...I'll be celebrating with one tonight. THAT will be the focus of this day. And the fact that tomorrow is Saturday the 14th. There's exactly the same amount of THOSE days then too, right?Have a LOVELY weekend!!!

You count comments before adding yours? :) Around my sister's town (Port Dover, Ontario) they are descended upon by bikers every Friday the 13th.. much more of them in the summer months should they occur then. The town's roads become littered with machines and you'd never recognize otherwise familiar landmarks. It's good for their business and rarely poses a problem. But anyway, aside from the fact that I got married on a Friday the 13th, that's pretty much what the date means to me. :)

=steviewren,I too found it interesting that the sequence was repeated every 28 years. I guess the scientist in me found that appealing.;)It seems that lot of people do get married on that date; whether it means bad luck or good luck depends I guess on the people that marry.;))Do you think in your ex-husbands case it might be a 50-50 thing; that is, after some time the bad luck will fall on him? Just a thought.,))Hope you are having a safe Friday yourself.;)))

=Julie,always love your optimism; your comments make my day. Enjoy the celebration today and I hope you will have a great weekend.;))

=Tina,yes, isn't it? Have a great Friday yourself Friday girl.;)This is my favorite day of the week too, I look forward to a weekend with some gardening, they are talking about a true spring weather, so I hope it will hold.;))

=Betsy,right back at you.;)) Wishing you and your 5 men a great weekend too.;))

=sallymandy,glad you liked the posts.;) Yes, I love the "How stuff works" site, I have learned so much about all kind of things there.In regards to the luck on today's date; I find the whole Friday 13th to be some sort of amusing curiosity. I believe that we create our own luck. Your parents are a true proof of that.;)))Hope the rest of your Friday and the weekend is lovely.;))

=Diane,although I am not superstitious, I am still somewhat cautious around the no. 13, to be honest. I do not like to "tempt the fate", so to speak.;) But then again, I do not loose any sleep over whether it is Friday the 13th or not. ;)In regards to the dislike of being the 13th commentator that you mention, I only recall making a remark once on the fact that a few months ago I seemed to be almost exclusively leaving the 13th comment on your blog. Was this what you had in mind?

=Hilary and Michele,I do not count comments on other blogs, why do you think that? I am a bit confused here…The number of comments on most blogs is not just listed below the post but also written on top of the comment window and close to impossible to miss – am I the only one that has this feature?Thank you for sharing your sentiments about this particular day, I hope you both are having a lovely Friday, thanks for stopping by.;)

I guess you figured out I meant to type "born". ;-) Have a productive time in the garden this weekend(bet you are already there as I write this). Wonder if Charlie or Tiger will show up to join you in your garden...

=Hilary,you have a great eye for details ad you rarely miss a thing.;)Not too worry, I am also a bit slow in getting things these days and should have realized what you meant.;))Hope your weekend if great, just take your time with mails, I too am taking it easy.)xoxo

=Tina,I totally got that.;) It takes one to know one, right.;)) You know how many typos I leave all the time.;)Yes, I am hoping to get to the gardening tomorrow.;)xoxo

Yikes, that story about the engine malfunction is very scary. Good thing the pilot knew there was a problem before take off. That must be a relief to everybody, whew! And thanks for the info about the Friday the 13th. I didn't know that Kate and Ashley are born on the 13th of June. I'm a big fan of their effortless style! :)

I've always kind of thought of Friday the 13th as a lucky day because good things always seem to happen to me then. The best was the friday the 13th in February 1976 that my future husband and I started going steady!

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I was born under the Tatra Mountains, to a Czech father and a Slovak mother. I grew up in Sweden and lived almost ten years in North Carolina.
More than a decade ago my line of work took me to Denmark, where I live today. My home, which I share with the man that holds my heart, lies in the northerly part of a Danish peninsula, in the proximity of endless, wide and pristine westbound sandy beaches, surrounded by the rough and untamed North Sea.
My writing is defined by reflections on my cosmopolitan past and my intriguing present. Ultimately I try to convey in words and images my personal thoughts and feelings about life itself, with all its magic, natural splendour and the beauty of simple pleasures.